FASTER
Worth the ride for adults who can handle its violence.
Should You Watch It?
FASTER is a lean, action-packed thriller with a simple engine: an ex-con sets out to kill the criminals who betrayed him and murdered his brother. The three lead performances have energy and emotional weight, while the movie keeps its plot direct enough for action fans.
The cost is substantial. The violence is very strong, the revenge theme drives the story, and suggestive content and drug abuse add further concerns. Yet the film’s most impressive scenes turn toward forgiveness, prayer, and redemption, including a powerful encounter with a criminal who became a minister.
If you are an adult action fan who can weigh those elements carefully, FASTER may be worth the ride. For children and young teens, choose something else.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESAfter serving time for his part in a bank robbery, Driver leaves prison with instructions to live lawfully. Instead, he begins hunting the former criminal associates who betrayed him and murdered his brother.
A corrupt Cop pursues Driver while hiring a Killer to eliminate the same criminal ring. The three men race toward their separate goals as Driver’s rage collides with questions of justice, mercy, and whether a changed life is still possible.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means FASTER is a solid, effective action thriller with notable strengths but limited complexity.
Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen make a fun trio of leads. They throw themselves into the action with gusto and convey deeper emotions when the material calls for them. The straightforward plot gets the job done for action fans, and the film is refreshingly restrained in its use of foul language for an R-rated action movie.
The strongest material comes when Driver moves toward forgiveness and prays for guidance and a changed heart. Those scenes, combined with the movie’s unique washed-out colors, give FASTER a redemptive energy reminiscent of THE BOOK OF ELI.
The Worldview
FASTER presents a criminal protagonist consumed by revenge, then moves him toward forgiveness and a changed heart. Its moral vision is strongest when Driver encounters a former criminal who has become a minister. That encounter interrupts the cycle of vengeance and gives the film its deepest sense of redemption.
The movie does not treat corruption, duplicity, revenge, or drug abuse as admirable. Its final movement places those things in a distinctly bad light. At the same time, Driver still faces a violent confrontation, so the film’s moral progress does not erase its harsh action or its troubling premise.
The central longing is for a person shaped by violence to become someone different. Scripture gives that hope a clear name: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong Christian, ultimately moral worldview where criminal protagonist bent on revenge to get the other criminals who betrayed and murdered his brother finds that one of his targets has come to Jesus and become a minister, which leads the protagonist to pray and forgive the other man, but he still has to defend himself from the evil ring leader, a corrupt policeman, plus reformed criminal leads sincere worship service; 14 obscenities (including one “f” word), three GDs and one light profanity; some very strong violence and lots of action violence includes bank robbery, shootings, car chase with lead character driving to evade police and causing crashes, protagonist’s brother has throat slit graphically in front of him, man leaves prison and embarks on a string of revenge killings against his fellow robbers who double-crossed him and murdered his brother, killings committed as shootings, ice pick stabbing during fight, one criminal victim is an implied pedophile who gets killed as he's trying to seduce a teenage girl, main cop character is a heroin addict who hides his habit and scars, main cop is revealed to be two-timing and corrupt and hires a hitman to kill gang that protagonist is pursuing and this leads the two men – the protagonist and the hitman – to race each other to their human targets and engage in several gunfights with each other, villain tries to shoot man in the head to kill him, man kills villain in self-defense, man shot in face; no sex scenes but passionate kissing, one villain gets killed before he is about to abuse and kill a teenage girl, and some suggestive dancing by scantily clad women dancers in a bar; scantily clad women in dancers in bar; shots of female cleavage, one woman in underwear and negligee, and upper male nudity; alcohol use; smoking and villain is shown to be a heroin addict, which has bad consequences for him, and minister confesses to previous drug use before his conversion, so drug abuse is rebuked; and, revenge, duplicitous behavior and corruption but they’re shown in distinctly bad light by the final scene plus protagonist has poor relationship with mother who did nothing while his stepfather physically abused him and a second hitman winds up realizing he was sent on a corrupt mission and quits to live a peaceful life with his wife.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Driver’s anger drives him toward revenge. When does the desire for justice become a desire for vengeance?
Romans 12:19 · James 1:19–20One character’s conversion leads to forgiveness. What does genuine repentance change in a person’s life?
2 Corinthians 5:17 · Ephesians 4:31–32The film shows corruption and duplicity in a distinctly bad light. How can believers pursue integrity when wrongdoing seems easier?
Proverbs 10:9 · Philippians 2:15Driver prays for guidance and a changed heart. What would it look like to bring anger honestly to God?
Psalm 51:10 · Philippians 4:6–7The Final Word
FASTER delivers strong action, committed performances, and surprisingly powerful scenes of prayer, forgiveness, and redemption. Its violence, revenge theme, suggestive content, and drug material demand careful judgment. For discerning adult action fans, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For something gentler, see.
